1977-78 NBA SEASON

'The 1977-78 NBA season' was the 32nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Washington Bullets winning the NBA Championship, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

Contents

Notable occurrences

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

1977-78 NBA statistics leaders

NBA awards

See also

Notable occurrences

★ The New York Nets are renamed the New Jersey Nets.

★ The NBA All-Star Game was played at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, with the East beating the West 133-125. Randy Smith of the Buffalo Braves wins the game's MVP award.

★ The defending champion Portland Trail Blazers went off to a 50-10 start and looked poised to repeat, but Bill Walton broke his foot (the first of the numerous major injuries that radically shortened his career) and was out for the remainder of the season. The Blazers, hurt by Walton's absence and by other key injuries, faded to an 8-14 finish and lost to the Sonics in the Western Conference semifinals.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

'Atlantic Division'

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Philadelphia 76ers	55	27	.671	-
New York Knicks	43	39	.524	12
Boston Celtics	32	50	.390	23
Buffalo Braves	27	55	.329	28
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	31

'Central Division'

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	-
Washington Bullets 'C'	44	38	.537	8
Cleveland Cavaliers	43	39	.524	9
Atlanta Hawks	41	41	.500	11
New Orleans Jazz	39	43	.476	13
Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	24

Western Conference

'Midwest Division'

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Denver Nuggets	48	34	.585	-
Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	4
Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	8
Detroit Pistons	38	44	.463	10
Indiana Pacers	31	51	.378	17
Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	17

'Pacific Division'

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Portland Trail Blazers	58	24	.707	-
Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	9
Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573	11
Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13
Golden State Warriors	43	39	.524	15

'C' - NBA Champions

1977-78 NBA statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	George Gervin	San Antonio Spurs	27.21
Rebounds per game	Truck Robinson	New Orleans Jazz	15.7
Assists per game	Kevin Porter	Detroit-New Jersey	10.2
Steals per game	Ron Lee	Seattle SuperSonics	2.74
Blocks per game	George Johnson	New Jersey Nets	3.38
FG%	Bobby Jones	Denver Nuggets	57.8
FT%	Rick Barry	Golden State Warriors	92.4

NBA awards

★ 'Most Valuable Player:' Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

★ 'Rookie of the Year:' Walter Davis, Phoenix Suns

★ 'Coach of the Year:' Hubie Brown, Atlanta Hawks

★ 'All-NBA First Team:'

★
★ Bobby Jones, Denver Nuggets

★
★ Maurice Lucas, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Don Buse, Phoenix Suns

★
★ Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers

★ 'All-NBA Rookie Team:'

★
★ Bernard King, New Jersey Nets

★
★ Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks

★
★ Jack Sikma, Seattle SuperSonics

★
★ Norm Nixon, Los Angeles Lakers

★
★ Walter Davis, Phoenix Suns

★ 'NBA All-Defensive First Team:'

★
★ Bobby Jones, Denver Nuggets

★
★ Maurice Lucas, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Don Buse, Phoenix Suns

★ 'NBA All-Defensive Second Team:'

★
★ E. C. Coleman, Golden State Warriors

★
★ Bob Gross, Portland Trail Blazers

★
★ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers (tie)

★
★ Artis Gilmore, Chicago Bulls (tie)

★
★ Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls

★
★ Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
''Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com''

See also

★ 1978 NBA Playoffs

★ 1978 NBA Finals

★ 1978 NBA Draft